Visiting the Meiji
by Serosa
Summary: YYH&RK Xover. Touya and Hiei are sent back in time and meet... Kenshin! TxHxK love triangle. Will contain spoilers. A callenge from beachstylekats.
1. Ch 1

_**I accepted a challenge from beachstylecats, and this is what came out from it.**_

**_Note: This story is placed in volume 2, after Sanosuke and Kenshin battled, before the incident with Jin-E._**

_**Visiting the Meiji**_

_**Ch. 1:**_

The thunderstorm raging over the dojo was one of the worst in years. Many whispered about the end of the world. A young man with long red hair stood by the door and watched as lightning cracked over the night sky. He didn't move, nor make a sound, but he could feel that something unexpected was going to happed in the near future.

**(Centuries later)**

_The thunderstorm raged over them as they ran along the riverbank. The noise from the storm was quite enough to cover the soft sounds of mud sliding against mud as the ground broke from under them._

_Four were far enough to be safe, one managed to jump to safety, but one found himself caught in the sliding mud._

_Large eyes looked down at the wild river with fear… for what? The water..?...Or his own safety?_

_The arm closest reached out to grab the falling one, but the hero soon realized that he neither had ground to stand on anymore._

_With the booming of the thunder mixed two startled shouts of protest moments before two small beings were lost under freezing water._

_Up on the riverbank, their four companions stared in panicked shock._

_- - -_

The sun was shining the next day, and everyone continued with their lives. The thunderstorm was nothing but a bad dream or a half forgotten memory. The redheaded man from earlier walked among these people, but he could not forget the storm like the others did. The feeling that some greater power was mixed with it all never left his mind.

This man, known as Himura Kenshin by his friends, and Hitokiri Battôsai by his enemies, had always been right in matters like this.

Leaving the city chaos of Tokyo behind him, he headed towards the more silent parts near the river. Not long after, he was accompanied by a friend of his, Sagara Sanosuke, and while talking, a small part of him could finally forget his worries and concentrate on something else.

Soon the two of them fell into a comfortable silence and just walked, enjoying the company as well as the sun. Suddenly Sanosuke, a tall teen with brown hair, stopped. Kenshin stopped a few steps later in confusion. He noticed that Sanosuke wasn't looking at him, but something near the river.

"There's someone by the riverbank," he said, never changing his expression, which was unreadable, except for maybe a small look of surprise. Kenshin turned his lavender eyes towards where Sanosuke was looking and spotted the two small forms that lay there unmoving. Worried, the red-haired swordsman ran over to where the two lay, followed by his taller friend. Had they drowned? Were they injured? Upon reaching the two, Kenshin kneeled down next to one of them.

They both looked very young. The one next to Kenshin had black spiky hair, reminding the swordsman of Yahiko, a young orphan boy that he and the dojo owner, Kaoru, had taken in. There was, however, a starburst of white in the front, bringing the resemblance closer to Sanosuke, and his white bangs.

The other boy, the one Sanosuke was kneeling next to, had an odd light blue hair color, except for his bangs that consisted of four spikes in an odd bluish green color. Both of them wore clothes neither Kenshin nor Sanosuke had seen before.

Also, they were both soaked and covered in mud. Perhaps they had been caught in the storm and fallen into the river?

A small movement alerted Kenshin's gaze back to the black-haired. The moan that escaped the small lips turned into a few choughs, and large eyes fluttered open. Kenshin froze. He had never seen yes colored like that: ruby red. Was the boy blind?

_- - -_

_His lungs burned, and the breathing rasped in his throat as he opened his eyes._

_His eyesight was blurred, but he could still make out a human form above him. A human with red hair…_

"…_Kurama?" he asked in a weak voice before darkness consumed his mind once again._

_**TBC…**_

_**I'd like to note that I'm not sure if the color aqua (or rather its name) existed in the Meiji era… so I decided to explain the color instead of naming it. Reviews are nice… flames are accepted, reluctantly…**_


	2. Ch 2

_**Ch. 2:**_

Hiei woke up warm and safely tucked in under a blanket… Not what he had been expecting. Actually, he had expected to be cold and wet and half buried in mud. Then he remembered the flash of red hair, so he figured that Kurama, or the not as likely alternative, Jin, had helped him out. But as he sat up he realized that he wasn't in the fox's home, and that he was naked.

'Jin, then…' he thought. On his right side was a small pile of clothes he hadn't seen before. Hiei touched his forehead and was relived to find that his bandana was still there.

Wobbling a bit, the fire-demon stood up and pulled on the clothes he had been given. There was no idea in walking around naked, now was there? His new clothes consisted of a dark blue haori, black hakama and black sandal socks. It was a nice surprise to find that the clothes actually fit.

Now, fully dressed, he decided to figure out where he was. For some reason, Hiei felt weaker than before, but he still managed to follow the talking voices he heard and slid open a door that seemed to lead to the front yard. All talk and movement stopped and all eyes focused on him. There were one female and four males all in all. Hiei's eyes were automatically drawn to a redheaded male not far to his right. He was bent down over a bowl or something as if he was washing something.

Hiei noted that the man's hair was a lighter red than Kurama's, and the eyes that now stared at him were lavender. Then, was he the one who had helped the fire-demon? Not Jin?

The tree other males had brown, black and gray hair, but the black haired was nothing more than a child, and the one with gray hair seemed very old.

"I'm glad to see you awake," the female said, she had black hair. She walked up to Hiei. "I'm Kamiya Kaoru, and you're at my dojo. Kenshin and Sanosuke found you by the river and brought you here. Genzai-san took care of you while you were unconscious, he's a doctor."

Hiei didn't answer but let his eyes wander back to the redhead, wondering whether he was Kenshin or Sanosuke. After a moment of hesitation the redhead smiled gently, stood up and walked over to stand next to the woman, Kaoru. Hiei couldn't help but notice the katana he carried.

"This one is called Himura Kenshin," he said. "The tall one is Sagara Sanosuke…" The kid chose this moment to step forward and introduce himself as Myôjin Yahiko.

"Might we know your name, young one," the man, Kenshin, asked. This earned him a glare from the fire-demon.

"Don't call me 'young one', swordsman, I'm older than you think," he said. Kenshin seemed surprised, but other vice unaffected by the glare. Then again… it hadn't been an all that fierce glare. Hiei was too tired to be really angry. Normally he would probably already have slit the swordsman's throat.

"Oh, sorry," Kenshin said with a smile. "This one did not mead to offend." After a moment of silence Hiei turned his head away and looked at something to his right while grunting out an answer:

"Hiei."

"That other one, is he a friend of yours?" Kaoru asked. Hiei looked at her for a closer explanation. "You were found next to a boy –man-…"she corrected herself, remembering what Hiei had said. "…with light blue hair."

Hiei thought for a while. There had been someone grabbing his arm before he fell into the river.

"We've met," a voice said from behind him. Looking over his shoulder, Hiei saw Touya, dressed in a light blue haori, white hakama and white sandal socks.

"Touya," Hiei half greeted half noted and stepped outside so that the ice-demon could step through the door. Kenshin almost frowned. It seemed that those two weren't as close as they had originally guessed. Suddenly Hiei stiffened.

"Where's my sword," he asked.

"We put it inside the dojo for safekeeping," Kaoru answered still smiling. Apparently she hadn't noticed the cold looks the two had given each other.

"Where are we anyway," Touya asked. He couldn't recall many places with dojos like this in the Ningenkai, and because of the humans, it was pretty clear that they weren't in Makai anymore.

"What city," he then added as an after thought. From experience he knew that one had to be precise when asking something of humans. The humans looked surprised by the question, but the woman answered nevertheless.

"…At my dojo, in Tokyo."

"This… is Tokyo…?" Hiei silently wondered. Last time he saw it, it hadn't looked like this. It didn't make any sense. And neither did their clothes. Unless…

"What year is it," the fire-demon asked. This confused the humans even more.

"What…"

"Just answer," Hiei snapped.

"The 11th year of Meiji," the tall, brown haired said. Both Hiei and Touya's eyes widened. Hiei ripped off his bandana and ran his fingers over his forehead.

The red eyes filled with disbelief. **His jagan was gone!**

_- - - _

_Hiei was in the dojo, training. He had slowed down a bit with the disappearance of his powers, but he was still faster than any human._

_It was apparent that the two visitors had been upset about something, so the ones at Kaoru's dojo decided to leave the two alone for a while, to sort out their thoughts._

_The feeling of his sword in his hand as well as the familiar moves soon brought Hiei to a peace where he could calmly think about what had happened. About how he and the ice-demon had gotten themselves into this mess._

_Though in deep thought, Hiei knew exactly what was going on around him. And he never made a single mistake in his moves. He knew that he was being watched. That boy, Yahiko, stood at the door, staring at him. In a corner of the dojo sat Touya, tying to gather up enough ki to summon a weapon of ice, but with no luck. Every now and then the ice-demon looked up from his task and glanced at Hiei, but that was all._

_Then the annoying boy left, and Hiei could faintly hear him shout…:_

_- - -_

"Kenshin..! You've got to come see this!"

Kenshin looked at the boy that came running towards him with an eager smile. The swordsman was just returning from the city where Kaoru had sent him to buy some extra rice, salt, miso, soy sauce etc.

"What is it, Yahiko?" Kenshin asked as he put down the purchase.

"That new guy, Hiei," Yahiko exclaimed in excitement. "He's training in the dojo! And he's using Hiten Mitsurugi-ryû! He's really fast! It's almost impossible to see his moves!" Kenshin couldn't believe what he was hearing. That boy, Hiei, he looked so young. And he was fighting with Hiten Mitsurugi-ryû?

The baffled swordsman followed Yahiko to the dojo and looked through the slightly parted door just in time to see Hiei finish the Ryûtsuisen, the Dragon Hammer Strike, and go straight to the Ryûshôsen, the Dragon Flight. A pointless combination really, seeing that with a sword as Hiei's, the Ryûsuisen would already have split the enemy's head in two. Still Kenshin could not help but notice how well those two moves went together, and how skillfully Hiei did them.

Hiei was starting to get very annoyed. Not only was the kid back, but now the redhead was there gawking at him too. The fire-demon ended his last move and turned around to glare at Kenshin.

"Had an eyeful?" he asked and felt slight self-satisfaction to the fact that the rurouni seemed to blush.

"This one was just wondering," Kenshin said, fully aware of the slight blush on his cheeks. "Who thought Hiei-dono Hiten Mitsurugi-ryû?"

Hiei seemed to think over it for a while before answering.

"You know the name of my style… perhaps you're not as weak as you look…" After a few seconds of silence he added: "Would you train with me? Just as a test of strength…"

What is this..? Did Hiei just ask a human to train with him?

This time it was Kenshin who was silent. Touya had stopped his futile attempts to summon his ice and watched the two swordsmen with interest. At last Kenshin nodded.

"Alright… but we fight with shinai. Fighting with swords will only create damage," he said. Hiei hesitated and Kenshin wondered if the black-haired boy… teen… man… whatever… was having second thoughts. But then Hiei shrugged.

"Hn… fine. But I don't own any shinai, you'll have to lend me one," he said and sheeted his sword.

_**TBC…**_

**_IMPORTANT:_**

**_I'm so gonna "rape" the Rurouni Kenshin story… But it's all for fun, so if you're Watsuki-sama or one of his lawyers, please have mercy on me! Oh, and this story will contain spoilers for those who haven't read the stories…_**

_**Thank you all for the reviews!**_

**_Answers to questions:_**

**_-TxHxK stands for Touya x Hiei x Kenshin. _**

**_-Sanosuke is 19, and he has dark brown hair with white spiky bangs. (At least in the manga…)_**

_**-Nah, I decided to go easy on them here in the beginning. Neither will get sick… yet…**_


	3. Ch 3

_**Ch. 3:**_

Kenshin and Hiei held their shinai in a slightly similar way, but years of fighting with different type of swords had developed their styles differently.

At first the two swordsmen just stared at each other, waiting to see if the opponent would strike first. Then Hiei moved. He was fast, but Kenshin blocked the attack with his shinai, before changing the direction of his sword into an attack of his own. Hiei blocked it easily.

At this point it was still simple strikes of offence and defense, meant to test the opponent's skills and speed. But despite this, Touya and Yahiko still had difficulties following the movements of the two swordsmen.

Suddenly Hiei spun around and attacked with the Ryûkansen, the Dragon Spiral Strike. Kenshin barely managed to dodge, but he still managed to turn and attack with the Ryûshôsen, the Dragon Flight. Just like Kenshin, Hiei dodged the attack. Their speed was increasing steadily, and soon they both were just two blurs, flying around the dojo. Touya, who had trained his eyes in battle managed to follow the two swordsmen's movements longer that Yahiko, but soon their speed was beyond even him.

Hiei and Kenshin were so caught up in their little battle that they never realized Sanosuke appear at the still open door. Actually, the two of them had forgotten there even **was** a world beyond the battle.

Hiei smirked as he attacked with the Ryûsôsen, the Dragon's Nest Strike, but Kenshin, with some difficulty, blocked most of the attacks. Then suddenly he had jumped high in the air and as he came down, he came down with an attack, Ryûsuisen, Dragon Hammer Strike. Hiei noticed this and lifted his borrowed shinai to block the attack.

A loud crack was heard and both swordsmen stood still, in the middle of the dojo, each holding a broken shinai in his hands. Both had their eyes narrowed into a battle glare, their faces only inches apart.

The two halves of the two broken shinai hit the floor not far from them.

Hiei stood with his legs securely apart, in perfect balance, holding the broken shinai with both hands above the right side of his head. Kenshin also was standing in perfect balance, with his legs wide apart, holding the broken shinai on the opposite side than Hiei, down by his right hip.

Complete silence lasted for a few moments. No one dared to move.

Finally Sanosuke broke the silence.

"Hey, Kenshin… Kaoru sent me to find out what's taking you so long," he said, bringing both fighters back to reality. Kenshin's eyes widened and he stepped back, relaxing his stance. Hiei did the same. Then Kenshin suddenly remembered the purchase.

"Oh, I left everything on the porch!" The redheaded swordsman turned to go get the forgotten rice, salt, miso, soy sauce etc. when he stopped and looked at the broken shinai in his hand.

"Oh no, Kaoru-dono will be furious!" he said worriedly.

Hiei blinked. Was this the man he'd just fought, and tided with? For a moment, there had been a skilled warrior fighting against him, not this too-worried-about-everything wimp. Talk about a split personality…

Hiei huffed.

**(Centuries later)**

_Kurama stood by the riverbank, ordering every plant his ki could reach to search for the two missing demons from the river. Next to him stood Kuwabara, trying to sense the familiar youki of the fire- or the ice-demon. Jin was flying back and forth above the river, trying to see something in the wild water._

"_There..!" Kuwabara exclaimed and pointed. "I sense something living over there!" Jin flew over to have a look and nodded._

"_There's somethin' there, alright," he announced. Emmediately a plant extended and grabbed the something before pulling it up from the water. It was an unusually large Makai fish. The vine immediately let go of it._

_Not far from them, stood Yusuke, yelling at Koenma through the pocket mirror looking communicator._

"_I'm telling you! Hiei and Touya fell into the river! We need help **now**!" he shouted. He was soaked, freezing and **very** worried about his team mates._

"_Yusuke, listen to me," Koenma answered. "Hiei and Touya are already beyond your reach. Now get back to Reikai! That's an order!" Koenma shut his end of the communicator, much to Yusuke's annoyance._

"_You Mother Fu-!"he screamed in frustration and turned towards the other tree._

"_What did he say?" Kurama asked. He had to shout as well to be heard in midst of the storm._

"_He told me they were far beyond our reach and ordered us to return to Reikai," Yusuke shouted back. The others protested, but they knew that there was nothing more they could do._

_- - -_

"Terrible," Sanosuke commented as me munched on the fried fish Kaoru had made. Hiei let out an "hn" of agreement. Touya stayed silent, taking another bite of his fish.

"Just terrible," Sanosuke continued, looking at Kaoru. "You should train in cooking, not combat. Do you want me to teach you? Kenshin, you must be tired. Eating this every day..."

Hiei and Touya glanced at Kaoru who was getting more and more angry. Then they turned to look at Kenshin who was smiling at Sanosuke.

"Tired, no," he said. "Each time, it tastes so much better." Sanosuke nodded in understanding.

"Oh-h-h… Like an acquired taste," he said and nodded again. That was when Kaoru snapped.

"If you don't like it, don't eat it!" she shouted in rage and started throwing whatever she could get her hands on at Sanosuke. Unfortunately Sanosuke was sitting next to Kenshin and decided to use the swordsman as a shield. Not that Kaoru seemed to notice this…

Now the only one still eating was Yahiko, since Hiei and Touya found the show to be more interesting that the barely editable food. Kaoru continued screaming and throwing objects. For every object that hit Kenshin, a painful "oro" was heard.

"You come in here, you eat for **free**!"

Hiei had to bite back a chuckle.

"I quit fighting and have no money," Sanosuke defended himself from behind Kenshin. "You don't havta get so **mad**."

Then suddenly the gate to the front yard opened and a man in a uniform stepped in, interrupting Kaoru's aiming practice.

"Excuse the disturbance," he said, looking slightly embarrassed. "Might Himura-san be present?" Kaoru turned around to look at the man, all rage forgotten.

"The police chief," she said, slightly shocked. "Kenshin, the police chief is here…"

…And that was when she noticed that Kenshin "wasn't quite present" anymore…

"Himura-san, we beg for your assistance…!"

And Yahiko kept on eating.

After "the police chief" had been given a cup of tea, (and Kenshin had come back from his little "nap",) they all sat down to hear his story.

…Except for Hiei who had decided to claim the front yard three as his own and was currently sitting on one of its lower branches.

…And Yahiko, who was still eating.

"Murderer..?" Touya and Sanosuke asked at the same time.

"He's called **Kurogasa**," the police told them. "A serial killer who targets former revolutionary warriors. He sends a threat letter and then strikes.

"Over the past ten years he has appeared all over the nation repeating his terrible deeds. He has not failed in any of his attempts… which now number in double-digits. But above all… he **enjoys** the killing."

At this point Yahiko stopped eating. The fish in his hand stopped just by his mouth, and the boy now stared at the police chief.

"When he threatens men of high rank," the man continued. "The police, of course, direct their full forces to protect them. The targeted man also uses his own wealth to strengthen his security. Kurogasa enjoys breaking through these walls, while killing as many as he can."

Hiei turned his head so that he could look at the group from the corner of his eye. This human they talked about… if it was who he thought it was… deserved some respect.

"But…" Kaoru interrupted. "You must've used **gunmen**…" The chief nodded.

"Somehow… every gunman was **struck down** before he could draw his weapon. When we questioned the survivors they said their bodies had been **paralyzed**."

Unnoticed by the others, both Hiei and Touya nodded. It made perfect sense.

"Nikaido Heihô… Shin no Ippo," Kenshin suddenly said. He had realized the same as the ex-demons. Everyone stared at him, waiting for an explanation, but Hiei beat him to it.

"'One Side of the Soul'," he said. Now everyone was staring at him. "If a man kills too many, for too long… he looses his original purpose and has his mind **consumed** by the colour and smell of blood.

"…And he can stay like that for a very long time, perhaps even for forever." While talking, Hiei's eyes had taken a distant look, as if remembering something, but then he looked down at Kenshin and smirked. "There's a rumour, that in Kyoto during the Bakumatsu, there was a hitokiri who took assassination jobs for money. He was a master of swords in the **Nikaido Heihô** style.

"But you knew that already, didn't you…?"

Kenshin looked at Hiei in silence. He looked so young, and yet, Hiei fought with a style and knew about things no one else knew. Kenshin could sense many walls of protection around Hiei's soul… He must have been through so much…

The urge to break through those walls and see the boy inside overwhelmed Kenshin. But the swordsman looked down and silently shook his head. This was no time for such… silly thoughts.

_**TBC…**_

_**Thank you all for the wonderful reviews!**_

_**Answers:**_

_**-Ah… you'll see what I mean with raping the story…**_

**_-Touya tried to save Hiei because it's what you do in a team. You help each other. Besides, Touya and Hiei don't exactly hate each other… They just don't get along…_**


	4. Ch 4

**_Ch. 4:_**

_Touya moved around the front yard with simple grace as he trained his ninjitsu with a sword; or more precisely a shinai._

_Then he stopped in a middle of a simple move and almost sighed. The ex ice-demon was troubled by the thought that he no longer knew who he was supposed to be… or who **Hiei** was supposed to be to him._

_It used to be so easy when they were demons… Touya was ice, and Hiei was fire. It was as simple as that, and only natural that they disliked each other. But now they were both **humans**. …Or as weak as humans anyway. So… how were they supposed to react to each other now?_

_Not long ago, Kenshin and Sanosuke had left to protect some old patriot named Tani, or something like that. Both Hiei and Touya had stayed behind, saying that it wasn't their fight, or problem in Hiei's case. Touya glanced at the fire-demon sitting in the three looking at the sunset, before he continued with his training, starting from the beginning._

_- - -_

_There weren't many who knew about it… well none except for Kurama… but there was something Hiei **did** like in life. Hiei liked the sunset; the colors of fire red, brilliant orange and burning gold mixing together into perfect warmth._

_Finally after the sun had set, both ex-demons went inside the dojo to sleep. It seemed like only a few moments later that Touya woke up by the soft footsteps of someone walking past his room. Knowing that there was an ex team mate, a kid and a woman living under the same roof he shrugged it off and continued his sleep._

_- - -_

It was past one o'clock and the battle was just beginning at Tani's mansion. A tall man looked at his opponents and laughed. His cold gaze seemed to penetrate the very soul of each and every one of them, making it impossible for anyone to move.

"You cannot run!" He said with a maniacal grin. "Once a sword is drawn, one will fight until one is dead! Nothing else will satisfy."

No one was able to move, except for** one** man who walked towards the murderer with heavy steps.

"What did you **do**!" Sanosuke asked. "My body suddenly got **heavy**!" Kurogasa turned and looked at him with slight surprise.

"Well. Moving despite the Shin no Ippô," he said, the slightest tone in his voice betraying his surprise. "You're no average bug."

"So you are Kurogasa after all," a new voice suddenly spoke. With his lightning speed, Kenshin jumped towards the man and drew his sakabatô.

No one even saw the impact, but as Kenshin landed on the other side of Kurogasa, there was a newly made wound evident on his left arm. Kenshin himself took no notice of it.

"To use Shin no Ippô as a weapon is not surprising," the redhead said. "But to trap men who've lost their will to fight and then slaughter them… **That's** cruelty unworthy of the lone hitokiri, Udô Jin-E."

Jin-E turned to look at Kenshin and captured the swordsman's gaze within his cold blue eyes.

"Uhu-hu-hu… A man with a cross-shaped scar on his left cheek," he said. "The legendary hitokiri, Himura Battôsai."

"Give up peacefully, Jin-E," Kenshin warned. "Or face this one."

"Battôsai as my opponent," Jin-E said. "What more could I ask? But first…

"I'll fulfill my promise!"

Jin-E ran towards Tani with the intention to kill. Kenshin stood too far away he would never reach them in time. The redhead tried to call for Tani to break the spell of fear that held him paralyzed, but years of living in welfare had softened the man too much.

However, Jin-E's sword **was** stopped... by Sanosuke. Laughing, Jin-E stabbed the sword Sanosuke had broken through the teen's wrist.

Something in Kenshin snapped at the sight of that.

He ran forward, and even though his first attack was blocked, he still managed to hit Jin-E in the jaw with the sakabatô with his next move. And as Jin-E's concentration broke, so broke also the "spell" holding everyone paralyzed. Jin-E only laughed again.

"I've changed my mind," he said. "My next target is **you**, Hitokiri Battôsai!"

With that said he jumped out through an open window and disappeared into the night.

_Once the mist of the night had cleared, the morning sun shone brightly over a dark figure. Hiei had woken up early that morning, and unable to sleep, he had decided to go for a walk._

_Hiei wasn't stupid. He knew about the sword banning law, so he had left his sword at the dojo. Still… he could not help but feel uneasy without the comfort of his trusted weapon._

_After some hours of walking aimlessly, Hiei finally decided to head for the riverbank. That was where he and Touya had been found by Kenshin and Sanosuke, perhaps that was where he would find some long wanted answers._

_The river was just within sight when Hiei thought he heard something from behind him. He was surprised that he didn't __notice it sooner, but by now it was already too late. All he realized was a sharp pain at the back of his head. The last thing Hiei heard before falling into darkness was a laugh that sent chills down his spine._

"_Uhu-hu-hu. Mwah-ha-hah!"_

At the meantime, Kaoru, Yahiko and Sanosuke were at the front yard, discussing last nights fight. Touya opened the sliding door and looked at the small group. He had heard about the fight trough the door, but that was not what concerned him.

"Has any of you seen Hiei?" he asked, startling everyone. Apparently they hadn't heard him come.

"He's not inside?" Kaoru wondered. Touya shook his head. The four of them looked at each other for a while.

"I'm sure Hiei-san can take care of himself," Kaoru then said. The others had to agree.

"Anyway, I'm gonna take a nap," Sanosuke informed them and yawned. It was not until later that they found Hiei's sword in the dojo. Then, when neither he nor Kenshin had come back before nightfall, the four were starting to get really worried.

Down by the river, Kenshin sat on a log and waited for Jin-E to appear. He had for some time now thought about leaving Tokyo and start wandering again, becoming the rurouni he had gotten used to being. But now, there was a new factor keeping him at the Kamiya dojo. A factor with ruby red eyes…

The silent boy interested him. He admitted it. He did not know Hiei's age, or origins. Neither did he know by who or where Hiei had learned his fighting style. He knew nothing of the boy. Yet, it was so evident to him that the ruby-eyed young man had to have gone trough much pain and sorrow, why else would there be so many protection walls around his soul?

Kenshin shook his head. Here he was, getting ready to fight with one of his most formidable opponents in a long time, and yet his thoughts lingered at the silent mystery living with him under the same roof.

Lavender eyes looked at the wild river and he smiled softly. He was almost starting to feel like a poet… And then the moment was ruined by a shout.

"Battôsai!"

Kenshin looked up with a start and saw Jin-E speed past him in a small boat on the river. In his arms was the limp form of someone he recognized.

"Hiei-dono!" the rurouni shouted. He could see that Hiei had his eyes closed and didn't move. "**Jin-E you monster**!"

"I see you care for this boy!" Jin-E shouted back. "Get mad! Turn into yourself of ten years ago! If you don't, the boy will die! I'll wait at the shrine in the forest, tonight, at midnight, Battôsai!" Laughing, the crazed swordsman disappeared down the river, taking his hostage with him.

Hiei's life was now in Jin-E's hands.

At shore, Kenshin trembled with rage.

'**Jin-E…!'**

_**TBC…**_

_**Answers:**_

_**-Hiei has, by my knowledge, never been able to teleport… I always thought it was his great speed… And yes, he still has his speed.**_

_**Dragon Tamer103088: One step at a time…**_

**_-The issue of Hiei and Touya and the effects of the Meiji era will be discussed later in the story._**


	5. Ch 5

_**Ch. 5**_

"_I'll wait at the shrine in the forest, tonight, at midnight, Battôsai!"_

Kenshin couldn't help but let out a half growl at the memory of Jin-E laughing as he disappeared with Hiei. When midnight neared the enraged swordsman walked with the silent steps of a predator towards the old shrine.

- - -

**(Centuries later)**

_Four young men sat in an office and impatiently waited for answers. All of them were soaking wet, and there was more than one glare sent towards the semi-god in front of them._

_Koenma sighed and did his best to explain the situation._

"_There was nothing you, or even I could have done to help Hiei and Touya," he said a bit carefully. "It was **meant** for them to fall into the river, because they are needed in another place…"_

"_So where re they," Yusuke asked harshly. He was still angry at the semi-god and being soaked didn't help._

"_In the past… In Ningenkai's Meiji era to be precise," Koenma answered. He held up his hand to prevent anyone from interrupting him. "They will be brought back here once their mission there is completed. And no, they have not been informed about the mission."_

_Once Koenma had finished Kurama spoke up._

"_So… what is happening… or has happened to them now?"_

"_It's all written in the history books of Reikai," Koenma said. "But taken the time from the point they fell into the river to now… I'd say they're either just waking up, or realizing where they are." Koenma had to pause. He knew that the detectives would not like what he was about to tell them._

"_There's one thing though, completely expected," he continued._

"_What," all four detectives asked._

"_Touya and Hiei do not belong in the Meiji era… because they were living in Makai as children. Therefore the loophole of time that took them there, also took away, or more precisely, **sealed** their demonic powers." Koenma looked at them gravely. "What I'm trying to say is that Hiei and Touya could as well be humans, and they will remain that way until we bring them back to the future, after the mission…"_

_- - -_

Hiei glared at his captor. He had woken up bound and gagged some while ago in an abandoned temple of some sort. But when night came Jin-E had moved them both to an old shrine in the middle of a forest and removed the cloth preventing Hiei from speaking.

"Do you want to know why I kidnapped you," Jin-E asked his hostage. Hiei didn't answer, only sat on the grass and glared. "Battôsai will be enraged when I have you as hostage. That rage will turn him into the hitokiri he was years ago. Killing him as he is now would be boring." Still Hiei stayed silent and glared. He hated being weak and helpless, yet bound as he was there was little he could do. If only he'd had access to his powers…

Jin-E laughed as the clock struck twelve and Kenshin stepped into the clearing.

"It's the beginning of a wonderful moment, eh, Battôsai?" he said more than asked, turning to look at the rurouni. Kenshin's eyes were filled with rage and Hiei finally understood what Jin-E had meant. This swordsman was different from the rurouni earlier. This… might have been the one Hiei had fought with at the dojo.

"I should have prevented you from taking Hiei," Kenshin said. He didn't use 'this one' like Hiei had become used to. He was turning into the hitokiri, just like Jin-E had predicted.

With no more words the fight began. Even if Kurogasa could block every strike of Kenshin's Ryûsôsen, Kenshin seemed to have the upper hand as he could read Jin-E's every move… until one attack caught him by surprise, and Jin-E's blade ended up deep in Kenshin's shoulder.

"You read my movements well," Jin-E said. "…Until my Backwards Wheel. You're still not Battôsai. You need to become more enraged."

He turned towards Hiei who had watched the whole fight in silence while trying to open the ropes around his wrists and ankles. Jin-E caught Hiei's gaze and suddenly the ex-demon found it hard to breath. It was as if there wasn't enough air around him.

"What…" Kenshin was about to ask what Jin-E meant when he noticed Hiei's distress. The black-haired captive gasped for air, but there wasn't enough!

"I made it stronger than usual," Jin-E told Kenshin. "I'm surprised he's still breathing. It should have stopped his lungs.

"But it doesn't matter. He's still going to suffocate to death. And this time the only way to break it is by killing me, which will be impossible…"

Hiei hardly saw what happened. All he saw was Kenshin disappearing moments before his sakabatô crushed Jin-E's nose.

"Very good…" the crazed swordsman commented, his voice shaking a bit. "This is Hitokiri Battôsai!"

And Hiei saw it. The swordsman's eye color had changed… his entire being had changed.

"No time for talk," Battôsai said in a voice that could freeze the blood of anyone, demon or human. "Strike then. So I can **kill** you."

The world started to sway before Hiei's eyes. He felt himself weaken from every gasp of breath. Shutting out all unnecessary sounds, the ex-demon closed his eyes, trying to concentrate on breaking the paralyzing spell.

If he'd still had his jagan-eye, the spell would have been blocked even before it had time to hit him, but…

'Focus… I have to **focus**!' Hiei told himself. He tried to grasp some sense in the thoughts that swam through his mind. He was starting to feel lightheaded from lack of air. His lungs ached and his head hurt. The sounds of battle were coming from far, far away…

He… had to… focus…

Hiei's concentration was broken by a sudden, sickening crack. Gulping down air, the young male opened his eyes and saw Jin-E kneeling on the ground, grasping his arm.

"Hiten Mitsurugi-ryû, Battôjutsu… Sôryûsen, "Double Dragon Strike"," Battôsai said. Life dimmed from Hiei's eyes and he closed them in order to focus his will, one last time.

But he could still hear.

"I crushed your elbow and severed your ligaments," Battôsai continued. "Your life as a swordsman is over. Now…

"**Die.**"

Dimly, Hiei realized something. He had to stop the rurouni from turning back into a hitokiri. He knew about history. He knew about Battôsai. He knew what would happen if Battôsai was let loose in the Meiji era, and **that** was **not** part of history!

'Baka swordsman…'

If someone changed the history, it would alter the future as well, and no matter how many laws of Reikai he had broken, Hiei did not want to be responsible for shifting the path of time!

"Stop!" he shouted out with the last air in his lungs. Kenshin froze in the middle of his killing strike and stared at Hiei who glared back. The ex-demon would probably have called Kenshin an idiot if he'd had the breath to do so. Darkness covered his entire sight and Hiei felt sweet air rush into his lungs as he slumped forward.

Someone shouted his name and strong arms lifted him from the ground. As his vision cleared, Hiei found himself looking into worried lavender eyes. Then the red eyes shifted to look over Kenshin's shoulder at the murderer standing there.

Kenshin knew Jin-E was there, not only by Hiei's reaction.

"Stop it, Jin-E. You've lost. It's over," he said, though Hiei could feel the swordsman's body tense, ready for battle.

"No, it's not over yet," Jin-E answered and drew his sword. "I have **clean up** to do." And with no warning, Jin-E stabbed himself through his chest and fell to the ground.

"If I'd live… it would lead to the man in the government who hired me," Jin-E said. Life was escaping from him, yet still he talked.

Hiei and Kenshin sat side by side and listened as he told them about how rotten the government really was. Kenshin looked at the man with sadness, unsure of what to say.

"I liked your eyes much better when you said you were going to kill me, Battôsai," Jin-E noted. He still had a few words to say. "The hitokiri is our **true** nature. We cannot be anything else."

The man, Kurogasa, Udô Jin-E, gave out a short laugh as he died.

Hiei looked at the sadness and understanding in Kenshin's face a while before placing his hand on the swordsman's arm.

"Let's go back to the dojo," was all he said. A small smile lit up Kenshin's face, and the rurouni turned hitokiri could almost hear one of the many protection walls around Hiei crumble, letting him a small step closer to the true nature within.

_**TBC…**_

**_Smiling towards all the reviewers:_**

**Dragon Tamer103088, please try to stay alive…**

**Mr. Leader, thank you. And**

**Liliath, it's a deal!**


	6. Ch 6

_**Ch. 6**_

Touya found Hiei sitting on the porch, polishing his sword. With a sigh, almost warily, he sat down next to his black-haired ex- team mate. Hiei stopped polishing the sword, waiting for Touya to explain the sudden 'intrusion of privacy'. For a moment there was silence.

"I'm sorry," Touya blurted out. That caught Hiei's full attention and he stared at the ex ice-demon.

"Had I known where you were, I would have helped that rurouni get you out," the blue-haired continued. Hiei nodded and went back to polishing his sword.

"Don't worry about it," he said casually. After a while he stopped, feeling pretty pleased with his work. So Hiei and Touya just sat there on the porch, feeling awkward.

"Was there something else you wanted?" Hiei asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Touya had to take a deep breath before answering.

"How am I supposed to react towards you?" he asked bluntly, causing Hiei to blink in both surprise and confusion. "We're not fire and ice anymore. I'm just confused…"

Hiei looked up at the clouds passing over the sky while thinking it over. Then he looked at Touya, a bit unsure.

"I guess… we'll just have to adapt… and start over…" he said. Sure it felt weird to say it, but at the time, it felt like the right thing to say. Touya nodded and he might have answered, weren't it for a sudden shout echoing through the dojo:

"**They went GAMBLING!**"

Looked like Kaoru just found out about Kenshin and Sanosuke's plans for the day…

Once recovering from the sudden outburst from nowhere, the two ex-demons smirked at each other.

"Want to train for a while?" Hiei asked and stood up. Touya's smirk widened.

"Actually… I found a katana inside the dojo and I've been eager to test it…" he answered and pulled out his said weapon.

- - -

_Worries and pasts were forgotten when two graceful beings faced off in a friendly battle. Modernized Hiten Mitzurugi-ryû against Ninjitsu with a sword. It was… different. But in a comfortable way…_

_Cuts appeared here and there on the two demons' skin and clothes. But it didn't matter. For a while, nothing seemed to matter. And that was good._

_- - -_

Small smirks graced the two ex-demons' lips when they finished training and headed towards the front yard. They were quite surprised to see Kaoru fighting with some woman that had her arms around Kenshin.

"You can't do that! Let him go!" the dojo owner shouted. The other woman only smiled.

"Why? I'm much better than you…" She answered. "Aren't I, Ken-san?" Kenshin blushed a bit and pried the woman off.

"This one is terribly sorry, Megumi-dono, Kaoru-dono," he said, smiling politely. "But this one is not interested…" Both Kaoru and Megumi seemed taken aback. From the corner of his eyes Kenshin saw Hiei and Touya looking at him. Actually, **everyone** was looking at him!

"So… You've already met some girl then?" Yahiko teased. Kenshin's eyes widened.

"Uh… no…" he stuttered. Both Yahiko and Sanosuke leaned forward with identical grins.

"A boy then..?" Sanosuke asked causing Kenshin's eyes to widen further. From the corner of his eye he saw Hiei looking at him completely expressionless. (And why was he so damned worried about the petite swordsman's reaction anyway?)

"This… Uh… N-no… We've got more important matters to discuss than this!"

Hiei couldn't help but race an eyebrow at the uncomfortable rurouni. Kenshin turned towards Megumi and said:

"Tell me about the man that's after you, Takeda Kanryû."

"Kanryû in an industrialist. He has a private army of about 60 men, ten runners, ten gunmen, ten swordsmen and 30 yakuza. But it wasn't enough for him so he hired the former head of the oniwabanshû, Shinomori Aoshi," Megumi told them. Kenshin nodded slightly while taking notes. They had all moved inside the dojo to make it more comfortable. It turned out there had been some problems with the gambling. Sanosuke had received word that one of his friends had died from overdose of opium, and not soon after a woman, Megumi chased by three men came running in. Sanosuke and Kenshin had defeated the men effectively, but it seemed that all the traces of the opium that had killed Sanosuke's friend led to Megumi, and a man named Takeda Kanryû.

Touya's heart had started to rise at the mentioning of Shinomori Aoshi. He had recognized the name.

"The oniwabanshû is probably no more than ten," Megumi continued.

"It is possible that the oniwabanshû already know our location," Kenshin noted. "There will be an **incident** or two in the near future." Sanosuke nodded in agreement.

"Now… what about that opium that's been going around," the teen asked. "How does it fit in the story?" Megumi's only answer was to stick out her tongue, making everyone sigh in frustration.

"This one guesses you're not ready to tell yet…" Kenshin mumbled.

"Listen you-…" Megumi started but was cut off by an explosion at the gate. As everyone ran outside they saw the silhouette of a mountain like man walking through the destroyed wall.

"I'm Hyottoko, one of the oniwabanshû," the large man said. He had no teeth except for two large upper and lower teeth in the very front. "I've come to claim Megumi back."

He's a fist fighter," Sanosuke told the others. "Let **me** handle this."

"So, this one first..?" Hyottoko asked and readied himself to fight. Hiei Touya and Kenshin all stepped aside to give more room for the battle.

Sanosuke was quick to land a punch in Hyottoko's stomach, but the mountain-like man merely laughed.

"Thanks for coming within reach," he said before breathing in air and then breathing out almost pure fire. Sanosuke barely managed to jump to safety, and his right leg got burned in the process.

"So… you managed to dodge my "fire-breath"," Hyottoko said with slight surprise. "But burned your legs… This time I'll cremate you!"

Kenshin took a step forward to help his friend, but was stopped by a hand on his arm. The redhead looked down at Hiei.

"That trick is easy to figure out, and win against," the ex- fire-demon said. One could believe he knew what he was talking about. "Let him fight alone." Hesitating a little, Kenshin finally nodded and moved back to stand next to Hiei. Both of them failed to notice the odd look Touya gave them.

An even larger set of flames erupted from Hyottoko's mouth. So large that it would be impossible for Sanosuke to dodge. So the teen did the opposite and jumped straight forward towards the source with his hands raised to shield his face. The black-haired human ran his hand into Hyottoko's mouth and pulled it out again, holding onto something.

"A bag filled with oil!" Kenshin exclaimed. That explained everything.

"Those teeth aren't real either," Hiei noted. "There were sparks when he snapped them together."

Suddenly the large man laughed.

"Fool… Your arms are burned! You can't repeat the punch from before," he said and raised his fist to hit Sanosuke. But before the fist hit its target, Sanosuke kicked Hyottoko under his chin with all his might.

"You forgot about kicking," he remarked as the mountain-like man fell unconscious. Then he turned towards his friends and gave them the thumbs up. "Easy." He grinned.

"If you don't mind getting burned…" Touya couldn't help but mutter. Hiei Hn-ed. With his fire-demon skin he wouldn't have gotten burned at all.

High up in "Hiei's" three sat a small man. His hair stood up like a roosters comb, and he looked much like a bird with snake eyes, anyway. Beshimi, the one whose fault (partly) it was that Megumi had escaped,had seen Hyottoko loose.

"Curse him…" he growled and looked down at his fallen comrade. "Curse him!" Then the small sized man noticed Megumi standing not far away, unprotected.

"Curse **her! **She ruined my life at the oniwabanshû!" he growled even more fiercely. "**I'll kill her!**"

Even if they hadn't heard a word Beshimi muttered, Kenshin, Hiei and Touya all sensed the upcoming attack.

"Watch out! There's another one!" Kenshin shouted.

"Up there!" Sanosuke exclaimed and pointed up at the three. But it was too late.With a flick of his wrist, Beshimi sent a small spiral dart flying towards Megumi. Small, but deadly.

"No!" Yahiko shouted and pushed Megumi to the ground. The dart missed its target and Beshimi cursed.

Now, all those who knew Hiei, knew that he didn't like to share anything. And that usually included the tree's he claimed as his.

Beshimi barely realized the danger before Hiei jumped in the air, high above him, and brought down his sword towards the man. There was a sound of a sword cutting through something soft, and Hiei landed soundlessly on the ground below the three. Beshimi on the other hand, had to be caught by the third oniwabanshû. This one was dressed in a black assassin outfit. He had covered his face with a devil's mask and on his arms were bold gaudy stripes.

Hiei only glanced at him once before calmly whipping the blood from his sword and sheathing it.

'He doesn't want to be a part of this fight,' Kenshin realized. The redheaded swordsman took a few steps, ready for battle but before either he or his opponent had the time to react, Touya stepped between them with his sword raised against Kenshin.

"Enough," he said. "The oniwabanshû has been a vital part of my life, and I will fight **with them**." The masked fighter picked up both Beshimi and Hyottoko.

"Let's go," he said, not betraying any sign of surprise, before jumping over the wall. Touya followed closely after. He sent a last glance towards Hiei and realized that the ex- fire-demon understood his choice. Oddly enough, that knowledge helped him deal with the fact that he had betrayed the ones that helped him…

_**TBC…**_

**Thank you for all the reviews! I'm really glad you all like this story! (smile)**


	7. Ch 7

_**Ch. 7**_

Shinomori Aoshi. A tall man with short black hair and blue eyes. An intimidating man who had become okashira even before the age of 13. Touya felt respect towards the man sitting before him.

"Tell me the truth," Aoshi demanded, eying what to him seemed like a foreign teen with odd choice of hair color. "Why did you decide to join us?"

"The oniwabanshû has always been important in my life," Touya answered. "I myself was part of it for some time… I cannot fight against you."

"And how about your friends," Aoshi asked suspiciously. "Can you fight against them?" Touya thought it over for a while, pondering over every soul at the Kamiya dojo. Then he nodded.

"Everyone except Hiei… he has nothing to do with this fight," the ex- ice demon answered. Aoshi glanced at Han'nya, the man with the devil's mask, who nodded.

"You have chosen a powerful ally," the okashira commented.

"And a powerful enemy," Touya noted. "The rurouni, Himura Kenshin, is no ordinary swordsman." Aoshi raised an eyebrow and motioned for Touya to continue.

- - -

"I think you owe us some explanations," Kaoru told Megumi after Kenshin and Sanosuke were done scanning the area for more intruders. Megumi only snorted and looked away.

"Talk!" Sano shouted at her, loosing his patience. Kenshin placed a calming hand on the teen's shoulder.

"Magumi-dono… you cannot hide forever," the redhead said. "Why not break the silence and tell us the true story?" Hiei merely sent them an uninterested look. Everyone had something in their lives they wished to hide, some more than others.

Finally Megumi gave in and told them her story. She told them that she was from a family of doctors in Aizu, and that she had studied medicine from a young age.

Then, at the Aizu war, her father had died and her mother and brothers had gone missing. After that she had become an assistant to a doctor working with Kanryû.

"Kanryû obtained raw opium ingredients for very little, and after processing the doctor would sell it back," Megumi told the inhabitants of the dojo. "Until the doctor created the "spider's web". It's like ordinary opium, but better processed meaning four times the profit. In five years all of Tokyo could be addicted.

"Kanryû wanted to mass-produce, so he tried to get the recipe from the doctor. But the doctor wouldn't tell. He wanted the profits for himself. They fought, and Kanryû accidentally killed him.

"So I, the loyal assistant, was forced to work for Kanryû. I thought I was making medicine to **help** people. When I heard the truth I wanted to die… but I couldn't. I was hoping… that if I worked as a doctor… I could some day reunite with my missing family… And so, for three years, I've sent people to their deaths…"

Silence settled over the Kamiya dojo when Megumi finished her story. The black haired woman was crying, truly upset about what she had been forced to do.

"But you never revealed the method to make the "spider's web" to Kanryû, have you?" Kenshin asked. His expression was soft as he looked at the crying woman.

"No… So?" Megumi wondered, drying her tears.

"To minimize the production, and the victims, you carry the guilt all **alone**," Kenshin answered, his expression never changing. "For three years you've suffered. Maybe it's time you were forgiven, and freed. We'll deal with Kanryû and the others." The redheaded swordsman stood up, ready to leave when a deep voice called out to him.

"Do you count Touya as one of 'the others', rurouni," Hiei asked. Everyone paused at the question. Was Touya their enemy? "You do realize that he had no choice, considering where he comes from…"

Kenshin felt a knot in his stomach. Was Hiei… protecting Touya?

"That depends on Touya…" the rurouni said slowly. "If he chooses to fight or if he'd rather stay on the side of it all, like you, Hiei-dono…" Kenshin caught the red eyes within his gaze and smiled. Hiei nodded, showing that he approved to the answer and finally everyone in the dojo started to prepare for the oncoming night.

- - -

**(Centuries later)**

_Dozens of books about the Meiji era's history lay spread out on a table in the Spirit world library, yet none of them seemed to hold the information the four friends were seeking for._

"_It says here that 'the rurouni Himura Kenshin, formerly known as the Hitokiri Battôsai, fought against Udô Jin-E, also known as Kurogasa, to save a friend who later became very important for the ex-hitokiri'," Kurama read out loud from a book. "But it doesn't mention anything about who this friend was." Yusuke sighed and slammed close the book he'd been reading from._

"_There are no markings what so ever showing that Hiei and Touya are in the Meiji," the raven-haired teen said and leaned back in his chair._

"_At least Koenma told us where to start looking…" Kurama murmured, loud enough for the others to hear while reaching out for yet another book._

"_Guys…"_

"_Doesn't do much good when those two aren't mentioned even **once** in these books," Yusuke huffed irritably._

"_Guys…!" Kuwabara repeated, a bit louder this time, finally attracting the two teens' attentions. Jin was already leaning over the orange-haired teen's shoulder, reading the page Kuwabara had found._

"_Listen to this," the human said and started reading. "'It was said that towards the end of the fight the mysterious black-haired guest at the Kamiya Kasshin-ryû dojo was shot. Only minutes later the police arrived, but found no one except for the injured swordsman and his friend, a blue-haired former member of the oniwabanshû, also a guest staying at the dojo…'"_

"_So what happened?" Yusuke urged._

"_It doesn't say," Kuwabara answered. "They only start talking about this Himura Kenshin again." After hearing this Yusuke all but ripped the book out of his friend's hands, but no matter how much he searched, no more information was written about the two "guests"._

"_I can't **believe** this!" the raven-haired teen shouted and slammed the book onto the table._

"_I'm thinkin' we should have a talk with Koenma," Jin spoke up._

_- - -_

A week went by at the Kamiya dojo without Kanryû or the oniwabanshû making a move. Over that time Megumi seemed to get over a part of her depression and became livelier. She still kept on flirting with Kenshin, even though the redhead made it quite clear that he wasn't interested. This had awoken Yahiko's interest, and he was set on finding out who it was that Kenshin really liked. Hiei had pretty much stayed out of the way, except for an occasional training session with the rurouni.

It was after dinner, and the ex-demon was sitting in his tree, seemingly asleep. Below him sat Megumi who was washing the dishes, not that she knew he was up there… There was a nice, calm silence over the dojo, only broken by an occasional shout from where Kaoru was teaching Yahiko swordsmanship.

Suddenly the gate opened and a tall man carrying a box on his back entered. The man spoke directly to Megumi, presenting himself as the book lender. He probably didn't even notice Hiei sitting in the tree.

The man and Megumi talked for a while and the book lender bowed down to take something from the box he'd set on the ground. When he straightened again there was a devils mask covering his face. Hiei recognized him as one of the oniwabanshû.

Before Megumi had the time to scream for help a hand was placed on her mouth. Hiei didn't move, but was ready to take action if needed.

"Takeda Kanryû wishes to talk to you. **Only** talk. He will not force you back," Hiei heard the shinobi say, and Megumi was lead away from the dojo. Hiei waited a few moments before following as soundlessly as demonly possible. It wasn't that far, in a small forest that Kanryû stood and waited.

As soon as Megumi and the masked shinobi had entered the woods, Hiei had jumped up in a tree and followed them from branch to branch. He may not have access o his ki, but the ex- fire demon was still as agile as ever. And it didn't seem like either Megumi or Han'nya had realized they were being followed.

"What do you want," Megumi asked the black haired industrialist, even though she already knew the answer. Kanryû sighed.

"You're going to make me say it? I want you back," he answered. Megumi glared at him, her look telling exactly what she thought about the idea. Kanryû continued:

"And if you **don't** come back, we'll burn the dojo down. And we'll make sure no one escapes."

"What?" Megumi exclaimed, unable to believe her ears.

"It's no use trying to escape," Kanryû said casually. "The opium and its victims… Those are things that you'll never be able to run away from. We are both bound to them." The tall industrialist turned and started walking away, leaving Megumi standing alone in the forest.

"One more thing," Kanryû called over his shoulder. "We attack at midnight. You've better decide before that." Then he left.

'Smart…' Hiei thought from the tree he was crouching in. 'Megumi leaves by her own will, so the rurouni has no reason to act.' Hiei looked at the crying woman and then at the retreating men before smirking. 'But you underestimate him…'

When evening came Megumi had disappeared, and all that was found was a letter in her handwriting, telling that she had returned to her home in Aizu.

"Lies…" Kenshin growled and ripped the letter to pieces. "There's no one in Aizu to go home to!"

"You're smart, rurouni," Hiei suddenly said. "I saw the woman talking with Kanryû earlier today. He said that he would burn down the dojo if she didn't return." Everyone stared at the indifferent swordsman.

"Why didn't you say anything **sooner**?" Kaoru snapped. Hiei didn't answer, only turned his head away. To Kenshin that movement seemed to signal something else than not caring. The rurouni motioned for Kaoru to calm down.

"Will you at least join us in the fight," he asked, his voice not betraying anything. After a while, Hiei nodded.

"Good…" Kenshin said before turning towards the brunette teen leaning against the wall. "Sano, you know where Kanryû's mansion is. Let's go!"

"Go ahead," Sanosuke answered, not moving a muscle. "Why should **I** fight for her?"

"Sano…" Kenshin started, clearly not in the mood to fight with his friend.

"My friend died from the opium **she** made," Sanosuke continued. "Why should I help her?"

"Did you ever see her eyes?" Kenshin asked coldly. "The** loneliness** in her eyes? Whatever reason a man needs to act, **that** is reason enough for this one." Sanosuke was silent for a while before nodding.

"Fine… I'm coming," he said and pushed himself off the wall. Hiei said nothing, but followed anyway. The red-haired rurouni looked at his two companions and nodded.

"Good… **Let's go**!"

_**TBC…**_

**_Grrr... this chapter was so crap! Sigh. You can see I haven't written anything for a while…_**

**_I'd like to thank all the reviewers; You are the ones keeping me writing. And I don't know what group of ninjas Touya used to be part of in his past. Let's just say he had very strong ties to the oniwabanshû, okay? It will make things a lot easier._**


	8. Ch 8

**_Ch. 8_**

Kanryû's mansion was big, typical for a rich snob.

"How do we attack?" Sanosuke asked. Kenshin's answer was simple.

"Without numbers, it's speed that counts. We'll break the gates and run." Seeing that neither Hiei nor Sanosuke had anything against his plan, Kenshin said the words that had become so familiar to him:

"Let's go."

The wooden gates to the Kanryû mansion didn't stand a chance against the attack from the three fighters. As the gates broke, the battle began. It was mostly Kenshin and Sanosuke doing the fighting. Hiei only attacked when he had to. After all, the only reason he'd come was so he could make sure Touya didn't do anything to alter the future. That, and because of a feeling that it was meant for him to be there, for some reason.

Kenshin took care of the swordsmen while Sanosuke knocked down the yakuza. The gunmen were already in sight. Hiei could hear the leading gunner shouting out commands:

"Take aim!" Apparently the rurouni heard it as well because he sped up to a nearly inhuman speed, running through the line of gunmen, knocking out four of them as he went. None of the men even realized what hit them. Well on the other side Kenshin had to stop, other vice he would have run straight into a wall.

"Now! Shoot him!" the leading gunner, who had managed to avoid Kenshin's blows, shouted. Kenshin saw the guns aiming at him, and his eyes widened just a fraction of a hair. One shot was fired, but it missed the rurouni by several feet. The aim was thrown of by Hiei who had also sped up, knocking down four more of the gunmen. The two that were left immediately changed their aim towards the smaller swordsman. Hiei was ready to attack but there was no need. Sanosuke, who was finally close enough, and Kenshin who used his speed knocked the two remaining gunmen unconscious simultaneously.

"Are you alright, Hiei?" Kenshin asked the ex-demon. Hiei didn't bother to answer, merely nodded. Then he turned his eyes towards the mansions second story window from where Kanryû had nervously watched the whole fight. Hiei narrowed his eyes. The man was clearly afraid. And for a good reason.

Suddenly the industrialist started applauding.

"50 men defeated!" he shouted, trying to cover the tremble in his voice. "Truly the work of Hitokiri Battôsai." There was a slight twitch from the rurouni at hearing the name.

"He knows about Kenshin. The oniwabanshû did their research," Sanosuke said. "Either that, or **someone** told them." He didn't need to mention any names. Everyone knew it was Touya he was referring to.

"I'm thrilled by your little display," Kanryû continued. "You should join us. We'd be unstoppable! I'll pay you the wages of 50 men, just to guard **me**!"

The man was making a fool out of himself. Kenshin didn't even listen to his offer.

"Will you come down with Megumi-dono, or should we come up," the rurouni asked coldly. "**Choose!**"

Behind Kanryû, out of sight, stood Aoshi. The head of the oniwabanshû had been watching the fight, and heard Kanryû's offer.

"You don't get it, do you?" he said to Kanryû. "Battôsai does not live to gain. He lives for his ideals." Kanryû stood silent for a while, thinking about his options. He swallowed once before shouting out:

"Fine... I surrender. I'll let Takani Megumi go!"

It was a lie. Anyone could see that. But apparently, Kanryû thought he was convincing since he continued. "Just give me an hour! She'll be yours in an hour, I promise! Now leave us be!" Hiei emitted a low growl while Sanosuke voiced his thoughts loudly:

"You think we'd actually trust you? As if!"

Kenshin glared at the industrialist before sheeting his sword and turning around. With silent steps the rurouni began to walk away.

"Where do you think you're going!" Sanosuke demanded to know. He knew Kenshin was trusting, but this was ridiculous!

Hiei could sense, smell, and almost taste the rage in the redheaded swordsman. His suspicions proved correct as Kenshin stopped next to a lamppost. In one fluent motion the redhead drew his sword and slashed cleanly through the thick pole.

"**One hour Kanryû!** Kenshin shouted with eyes wild from rage. "**Make your peace in that time!**"

Sanosuke was shocked, Hiei was smirking, Kanryû was horrified, and Aoshi was fascinated.

"Your make-shift stall only added fuel to his fire," The okashira said, smiling. "You **do** love drama…" Then he turned and walked out from the room. Outside the door stood Touya, leaning against the wall. Aoshi stopped and glanced at the bluenette.

"You'd better stay away from this fight," the black-haired man said, observing Touya from the corner of his eye. He could see the ex-demon tense. It was to be expected. Before Touya could protest Aoshi continued.

"That friend of yours, the short, black-haired swordsman is with them," he said. "Unless you wish to fight against **him**, I suggest you stay out of the way." There was another reason why Aoshi didn't want Touya to fight. It was simply that he didn't trust the foreigner. There were too many questions involving him and his black-haired friend. No matter how much digging Han'nya had done, he'd found nothing about the two. It was too suspicious.

"You may watch, but I advice you to stay out of it," Aoshi finished talking. Then he turned and walked down the stairs to the ballroom where he would be waiting for Battôsai. He did not doubt for a second that the ex-hitokiri would make it. Touya as well moved down to the ballroom and through one of the six visible double doors. And there he waited. The ex-demon knew there was some reason for him being there, and he only needed to wait for the right moment to act.

Hiei, Kenshin and Sanosuke stood outside the decorated doors to Kanryû's mansion. From there on they would be fighting against oniwabanshû. Kenshin opened the doors and entered, closely followed by Sanosuke and Hiei. There, in the middle of the entrance hall waited the man with the devil's mask.

_**TBC…**_


	9. Ch 9

_**Ch. 9**_

"So… You are the first one to fight," Kenshin said, measuring the masked opponent. Han'nya nodded.

"Yes… But the one I wish to fight is not you, Battôsai," he said surprising all three with his words. Han'nya raised a gloved had and pointed at Hiei. "Touya has spoken highly of your skills, yet he said not to mix you into this fight.

"But since you decided to come here, let us test those skills of yours…"

Kenshin's eyes narrowed. The rurouni knew Hiei hadn't come to fight. The masked shinobi must have known it as well, and still he wanted to fight. Within seconds the protective side of Kenshin had taken over.

"Hiei-dono did not come here to battle with you!" The redhead stated angrily. "What right do you have to-" Hiei silenced Kenshin by placing his hand on the redhead's arm.

"I'll fight him," the ex-demon said without looking at Kenshin. "After all…" he whispered and took a few steps forward. "…it's not as if I'm unused to it. Anywhere I go; there is always someone who wants to kill me." The last was said with a sad smile so quietly that no one would hear. But someone did hear. Kenshin watched Hiei with compassion and sorrow.

Hiei loosened his sword slightly, but didn't release it. Han'nya took a martial arts fighting stance.

"Ready..?" he asked the black-haired 'teen'. Hiei didn't answer, but went straight for an attack. The ex-demon drew his sword almost in flight and swung it at Han'nya but it was stopped by the metal gunlets hidden beneath Han'nya's leather gloves.

The blow against Hiei's sword was strong and unexpected. It made the ex-demon stager slightly. While Hiei recovered Han'nya spun around for a riverse-strike. Hiei saw it coming and dodged, but he miscounted the distance and the metal gunlet in Han'nya's glove hit his cheek full force, sending the small demon to the floor. Han'nya didn't hesitate a moment before attempting to crush Hiei's head against the tiled floor. Hiei used his incredible speed to dodge. He didn't even try to land an attack at the time.

"Hiei-dono… are you-" Kenshin started to ask. His words were cut off by Han'nya.

"You are **fast**," the shinobi admitted. "But not strong enough to break my spell." Hiei could sense that behind the devil's mask, the oniwabanshû was smiling. The ex-demon closed his eyes and concentrated. 'Not a spell… an **illusion**.'

Hiei let out a dark chuckle that sent shivers down the others spines. Slowly he opened his deep red eyes and glared at the shinobi.

"Your 'spell' does not affect me," he said with a smirk. "I admit it surprised me, but it does not affect me."

Han'nya tensed. Somehow, slightly unnerved by the deadly red glare, he believed Hiei.

"Enough talk," he growled. "It's time to finish this!" Han'nya ran forward and Hiei did the same, raising his sword. The impact was almost nonexistent. It almost looked like the two fighters had run right past each other. Both of them landed in a crouching position on the floor with several feet between them. Hiei rose calmly and whipped some blood off his split lip while Han'nya fell to the floor. Hiei turned and looked at the shinobi. He could have killed Han'nya, but there were two reasons not to. Those reasons were Touya and Kenshin. Mostly Touya though.

Kenshin walked up to the black-haired 'teen' and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you alright?" the redhead asked. Hiei nodded.

"You should hurry, before something happens to that woman," he said simply, changing the subject. Kenshin nodded and gave Hiei's shoulder a last squeeze before continuing further into the mansion together with Sanosuke. He could still hear Hiei's words running in his mind: "Anywhere I go, there is always someone who wants to kill me"…

Hiei watched the two continue their way. For a moment he wondered why he'd bothered to follow them to the mansion. Perhaps it was the same reason why he stayed by Yusuke and Kurama's, yes… even Kuwabara's side.

The spirit detectives… What were they doing in the future world? Were they worried? Or had time stopped when he and Touya were thrown into the past? Where was Touya anyway?

Hiei stared at the unconscious shinobi with a slight frown. Han'nya had said that Touya had told them to keep him out of the fight… but why?

A loud crash startled Hiei and brought him out of his musings. The ex-demon figured that Kenshin and Sanosuke had run into the next oniwabanshû. Hiei listened carefully. There was a moment of silence, followed by yet another loud crash, as if someone was trying to break through the marble floor.

The fire-demon heard shouting and other sounds that indicated that the fight had begun. He slowly raised the sword that was still clutched in his hand and whipped it clean before sheeting it. Hiei then calmly walked towards the sounds of battle. He suspected that the fight would be over by the time he got there, but quite frankly, he didn't care.

Touya watched through the slightly parted double doors as Battôsai enter the ballroom where Aoshi waited. Briefly he wondered what had happened to the human, Sanosuke. Surely he hadn't stayed at the dojo..? And what about… Hiei..?

The bluenette watched as Aoshi unsheathed his kodachi, the mid-sized sword that was always by his side. After a few exchanged words the fight began, and already in the beginning Battôsai underestimated Aoshi. Seeing the sword had led the rurouni to think Aoshi was a swordsman. Touya, however, knew better. Shinomori Aoshi was a martial artist who used his sword to create a shield against his opponent's attacks. Words were spoken between the fighters in the heat of the battle. Words that seemed to fuel Battôsai's fury. The attacks came quickly, almost too quickly for Touya to follow. Then, after several minutes of dueling, Battôsai managed to distract Aoshi with an unexpected move long enough for him to ram the handle of his sword against Aoshi's throat. The okashira jumped back and coughed. In return for the direct hit, Aoshi showed Kenshin his deadly kaiten kenbu, the "Dance of the Wheeling Sword". Better known simply as "sword-dance".

Battôsai tried to follow Aoshi's movements but without success. Suddenly the dance stopped and Aoshi delivered his killing stroke. Battôsai flew to the ground with three large cuts running over his chest.

Touya was almost sure the fight was over, but somehow Battôsai had survived, and the fight was about to continue when another pair of double doors came flying open. Touya couldn't see who it was due to his position, but judging from the mocking voice it had to be Kanryû.

What happened next made Touya's blood freeze in his veins.

_**TBC…**_

_**I would have updated earlier, but my Word went bye bye…**_


	10. Ch 10

_**Ch. 10**_

Hiei reached the stairway and looked at the mess and the two fighters lying unconscious in the middle of it. One was Sanosuke, and the other was an even larger man with shoulder long and messed up hair, and his body covered with scars. He didn't have a shirt on and from what Hiei saw; he was a very strong fist fighter.

Suddenly there was a loud sound from upstairs, like series of gun shots. The noise was loud enough to wake the dead, and that it did. Sanosuke started to stir and a moment later he sat up with a hand on his head.

"What was that…?" he mumbled to himself.

"It sounded like gunshots," Hiei answered, startling the teen.

"Gah! Hiei? When did you get there?" the brunette shouted and whipped around to stare at the ex-demon.

"While you were asleep, obviously," Hiei replied. He felt the recently awoken Han'nya move up behind him, and he could see it Sanosuke's reaction as well.

"Why didn't you kill me as you killed Beshimi?" the shinobi asked. Hiei opened his mouth to answer but closed it again to think about it before finally saying:

"Touya wouldn't have appreciated it. I owe him this much."

"And Beshimi…" Han'nya wondered.

"…Was before I knew about Touya's ties to the oniwabanshû," Hiei ended the sentence. By now the scarred man had woken up and moved to stand next to Han'nya.

"Shikijô and I will go find out what's going on upstairs, you can do as you want," Han'nya said and started walking. Sanosuke and Hiei nodded and followed.

- - -

Kanryû had revealed a fully functional gatling gun, and aimed it at the rurouni and the okashira. The two men ran around the ballroom, trying to avoid getting shot. From where the industrialist had gotten such a weapon remained a mystery. All the industrialist said was: "With money, one can **buy** power. Money is the **source** of **true power**!"

Touya gritted his teeth as he watched Kanryû miss on purpose. He was playing with the fighters, forcing them to run and dodge and eventually tire themselves. Suddenly the industrialist changed his aim and a chain of bullets embedded themselves in Aoshi's right leg.

"You two fought over the title of "most powerful"…" Kanryû said. "Well, in the end, the "most powerful" is **me**!" He barely had time to finish his small speech before the fighters from downstairs reached the double doors left open by Kenshin. Within seconds the warriors had analyzed what they saw and realized what was going on. At the sight of the wounded okashira, Shikijô swore and stupidly ran into the ballroom. Without even thinking about it, the rurouni saw an opportunity and dashed for safety. He had long since dropped his sakabatô, and therefore he was of no further use in the battle.

Kanryû looked at the two running fighters in stunned surprise before deciding to first kill the wounded Aoshi. He let out the rain of bullets a moment too late. Shikijô jumped in front of the okashira, serving as a human wall of protection. His strong muscles stopped the shots effectively, and his body stayed kneeling in front of Aoshi. Pain of the loss of not only an ally, but a friend, was showing in Shinomori Aoshi's face. Kanryû was taken aback by the change of events, but he quickly recovered.

"This gun shoots 200 bullets a minute," he said. "So I can chop them both into mince meat!"

Yet again, perhaps a bit too dramatically, another pair of double doors opened, this time revealing Hyottoko. The bloated and still not quite recovered man charged forward.

"Better not shoot!" he shouted and pointed at his stomach as he ran. "Unless you want this oil bag to go up in flames!" It was a bluff. All but Kanryû knew that Sanosuke had removed the bag. Kanryû called the bluff by aiming the gun at Hyottoko's head and firing. Aoshi's shout echoed in the ballroom:

"Hyottoko!"

From his position, Touya could see tears forming in the okashira's eyes. The blue-haired demon fought the urge to run out from his hide and attack the industrialist. He knew it would do no good as long as Kanryû had the gatling gun. Touya looked around himself, trying to figure out what to do. There was only a fake Ming vase, a European harness with a spear and a shield as tall as a man and some other useless junk. The ex-demon turned back to look at the situation in the ballroom once more and gasped as he saw the body of Shikijô starting to fall from its protecting position, revealing Aoshi to the gatling gun. The others saw this as well.

Three things happened at the same time. Han'nya ran forward with the intention to retrieve the okashira, Kenshin made off towards his sakabatô and Touya grabbed the metal shield from the harness and burst into the room, stopping in front of Aoshi to shield him from the shots. With a shout, Kanryû shot down Han'nya first. Kenshin slid down to grab his sakabatô, landing in a slightly awkward position. Just as his hand closed around the hilt of the sword, Kanryû turned the gun to point at the swordsman. Kenshin's eyes traveled to the side of the gun, and as time seemed to slow down, he saw the two last bullets enter the gun. The rurouni knew he could stop one of the bullets with his sword, but the other…

However, the bullets never reached him.

Two shots left the gun. There was an almost unnoticeable sound of one bullet hitting metal. The other ripped trough soft flesh, splattering blood over the marble floor.

In less than a second Kenshin's shock turned into blind rage and a red haze covered his sight.

_**TBC…**_

**_Gating gun -the original model for the machine gun. A big thing that stood directly on the ground and was quite difficult to move around._**


	11. Ch 11

_**Ch. 11**_

At that moment the hitokiri Battôsai was at complete control over the rurouni's body's actions, and faster than any eye could see the sakabatô smashed into Kanryû's face, leaving it unrecognizable. The red haze cleared and almost in dread, the swordsman turned and ran over to the body on the floor.

Touya saw it all happen, yet it was hard for him to believe it. Hiei had appeared, as if out of thin air, to shield Kenshin from the bullets. Touya had seen Hiei raise his sword, and he had seen the spark created when one bullet it the metal. And finally he had seen Hiei's widened eyes when the second bullet bored through the tender flesh. As Kenshin jumped over Hiei's falling form to punish Kanryû, Touya let out a shout and ran forward, letting go of the shield and completely forgetting about Aoshi. The ice-master was, of course, the first to reach Hiei. He quickly examined the small body, trying to find the wound among the pouring blood. It seemed to be somewhere on the right chest area.

Kenshin soon kneeled next to Hiei as well and carefully ripped the dark blue shirt open, exposing the ex-demon's right shoulder and most of his chest. Hiei himself was lying n his back, breathing in short gasps. Aoshi and Sanosuke both stayed back, out of the way, watching the shinobi and the rurouni with mixed worry and surprise. Soon enough Sanosuke snapped into action and kneeled next to Aoshi to help the man bind the wounds in his leg.

Touya found the bullet wound on Hiei slightly under his collar bone and applied pressure to it. Hiei let out a pained sound in response.

"…so pale," Kenshin whispered, ripping a few pieces from his own shirt to help bind the wound while keeping a worried eye on the dark-haired 'teen' all the time.

"That woman, Takani, she's a doctor," Touya suddenly said. Kenshin nodded and rose slightly, already guessing what Touya was thinking. "Up the stairs, the second flight. In a small observatory." That was where the woman was being held. Kenshin hesitated, looking down at the 'teen' that had saved his life.

"Go!" Touya shouted, annoyed by the rurouni's lack of response.

"Come on, Kenshin!" Sanosuke called, already at the stairs. But the second call wasn't necessary. The Kenshin was already running as fast as he could, considering the wounds he'd obtained from the earlier battle with Aoshi.

Touya stared at Hiei's pale face, silently fighting the urge to cradle the petite form, since it would only have created more damage to the wound. He wanted to stay with Hiei, but he had sworn loyalty to Aoshi. And he could not leave the okashira just like that. Behind him, Aoshi managed to stand up and walk over to the bluenette with a few staggering steps. The dark-haired okashira looked at the two ex-demons before placing a hand on Touya's shoulder.

"You care for him," he said. "So stay with him. I believe he needs you more than I or anyone else at the moment." Touya nodded. The okashira was right. He needed to stay with Hiei. Aoshi turned and staggered away from the two. The okashira knew of a secret passage he could escape trough before the inevitable arrival of the police. Before he left he sent one last look at the young shinobi bent over the even younger looking swordsman.

'Soon Touya should realize, that he doesn't need the oniwabanshû to live,' he thought. 'Because all he really needs in his life is right in front of him. I hope he'll be happy.'

- - -

**(Centuries later)**

_A large book of ningenkai history was slammed on Koenma's desk. Quick hands opened the book and pointed at a certain paragraph._

"_Explain this!" Yusuke demanded. Koenma looked at the group of spirit detectives and then at the paragraph in the book._

"_Yes, well… It is the reason why they were sent back," he said calmly. The God could sense the shock from the others._

"_To get** shot**!" Yusuke exclaimed in disbelief. Koenma sighed and cleared his throat._

"_The fight at Takeda Kanryû's mansion could have claimed the life of two very important historical persons. Problem is, history is written so that they're needed later on to prevent a war. One of my workers somehow managed to screw up something and we were forced to improvise. Unfortunately, some unexpected things happened while our two demons were there."_

"_What unexpected things," Kurama asked. There was a cold undertone in his voice, warning the semi-god from hiding any information. Koenma seemed to blush slightly and looked down at the book on his desk._

"_Well… you see…Dimensional storm that make time traveling possible appear quite randomly, so we had to send Hiei and Touya back to about a month before the fight at the mansion, and…" Koenma's eyes traveled to the wall on his far side. "Well, a month is a pretty long time to live without powers you've had since birth. So…" Koenma's gaze turned to the roof. "I guess they just did their best to adapt, even though it must have been hard for them, and they've had time to get to know the people they lived with, which is a good thing, by the way."_

_By now the semi-god had looked just about everywhere except the group of highly annoyed spirit detectives. Kurama took a deep breath to calm down and asked once again:_

"_What. unexpected. things?" This time Koenma looked the redhead straight in the eyes._

"_I don't think it would be fair towards Hiei and Touya if I told you," he answered._

"_When can we bring 'em back?" Jin asked._

"_The next dimensional tunnel can be opened in a few days," Koenma replayed. "For us, that is. For Hiei and Touya it's going to be a bit longer, since the storms never occur twice at the same time, even with years between." Koenma carefully closed the old historical book. He would have George put it back in its place later on._

"_Okay. Not that your explanation made any sense at all… I've got one last question for you," Yusuke said. "Why are you using a past form when talking 'bout Touya and Hiei?" For a while Koenma looked at Yusuke as if it had been one of the most stupid questions ever._

"_They are in the past. Even if they're rewriting parts of the history as we speak, it's still the past. So it would simply sound stupid to use a future tense.")_

_- - -_

Kenshin sat next to the sleeping swordsman. It had been an hour since they returned from Kanryû's mansion. Megumi had agreed to care for their wounds, and the bullet in Hiei had been removed. The swordsman was lucky. Even though it would take time for the wound to heal, Hiei wouldn't have any trouble wielding his sword again. A complete recovery was expected. Now the ex-demon lay asleep in his room thanks to the drug Megumi had given him.

As Kenshin sat there, watching Hiei sleep, he found himself replaying the events in his head. The shock when Hiei appeared, protecting him from the bullets. The blind rage directed at Kanryû when he realized what had happened. And finally the dread, hesitation, guilt and jealousy, all rolled into one enormous feeling when he turned around and saw Touya already by Hiei's side. The rurouni felt so confused. There were so many feelings.

"You saved my life," Kenshin whispered. Gratitude. Gratitude and guilt. Perfectly normal feelings, given the situation. Rage..? Kanryû had no right to shoot. He had no right to hurt Hiei.

'_Anywhere I go; there is always someone who wants to kill me.'_

Remembering those words, Kenshin reached out to stroke Hiei's cheek with trembling fingers. Those words would never cease haunting him.

Hesitation and dread..? It was the second time Hiei was place in danger. The second time Hiei nearly **died** because of him. Guilt, again... But jealousy..? Why jealousy?

Slowly, Kenshin's lavender gaze drifted over Hiei's slumbering face, so peaceful, and stopped at the lips. Swallowing slightly, the rurouni leaned closer. Jealousy went hand in hand with possessiveness. Kenshin looked at the peaceful face trough half lidded eyes, his breath ghosting over the full lips. Jealousy, affection, possessiveness and… love. All went with ever so slight differences. Which was which? What was true? All he had to do was lower his head a little, and their lips would meet.

A small chough drew Kenshin's attention away from Hiei, and towards the door. Upon seeing Touya stand there, giving him a highly disapproving look, the rurouni straightened with a blush. The message in Touya's intense glare was clear. _We need to talk. Now!_ Kenshin nodded and stood up, silently making his way trough the doorway, not wanting to wake Hiei. Touya closed the door once both were outside. The two men looked at each other for a while, Touya accusingly and Kenshin irritably.

"This one understands what it must have looked like," Kenshin finally said.

"What it looked like," Touya snapped, "was you taking advantage of Hiei's unconscious state." Kenshin's entire body jerked. His eyes lit with embarrassment and guilt.

"This one would never!" he exclaimed. Touya snorted. That was exactly what it had been, and both of them knew it.

"I'll warn you only once," the ice-master growled and grabbed the front of Kenshin's shirt. "Stay away from Hiei." Anger flared inside Kenshin. The rurouni grabbed the hand holding his haori and squeezed hard.

"That is not for you to decide," he stated coldly. It was anger, jealousy and possessiveness, all mixed together. Touya's jaw clenched. He tugged at the haori in his fist, pulling Kenshin's face only inches from his own. When he spoke his next words, his voice was cold and lethal:

"If you hurt Hiei in any way of form, I shall. **hurt. you**." Kenshin knew the boy before him was referring to what he'd walked in on earlier. The rurouni's nails dug into Touya's wrist as he answered in a low, equally lethal voice:

"The same goes for you."

Slowly the two let go of each other. All that had to be said had been said. Now they needed some time alone to understand **why** it had been said. Trusting the other's honour to stay away from their injured comrade's room, they both turned away, each heading towards where they could think in peace. One thing was certain, however. These two **would** eventually end up fighting, one way or another.

_**TBC…**_


	12. Ch 12

_**Ch. 12**_

What the hell had he been **thinking**? Touya silently cursed himself. He had been given permission by both the rurouni and the Kamiya woman to come back and live at the dojo, and then he went and practically manhandled the rurouni! Something had just snapped when he walked into the room, and saw the rurouni leaning over Hiei. Touya had felt an urge to protect the fire-demon. He couldn't say that he knew much about Hiei's past, but he knew it had been difficult. How could Himura just march in thinking… Touya didn't even know what the rurouni was thinking. Actually he was pretty sure the rurouni hadn't been thinking at all!

The ex-demon sighed and opened the door to the court yard. It couldn't be helped. He was grateful for being allowed to return to the dojo, but he just couldn't accept the thought of Himura… He just couldn't accept it, that's all.

With yet another sigh, Touya unsheathed his katana and stepped out onto the soft grass. He would train for a while before breakfast, and thereby releasing some still lingering anger. Hopefully he would have calmed down enough not to attack the rurouni next time they met.

Kenshin returned to the Kamiya dojo just in time for breakfast. The redhead had been down by the river, thinking about all the things that had happened lately. The memory that stood most clearly in his mind was the one with Jin-E, when Hiei had allowed him past one of the protection walls surrounding the boy. Kenshin had come to a decision right there. He needed to get close to Hiei, to see past those walls. He needed to know what could have hurt the teen so badly. He wanted to help Hiei heal. He wanted Hiei to trust him. Maybe it was just Himura Kenshin wanting to help. Maybe he was so taken aback by this teen that he would do anything to ease the pain hidden in those deep ruby eyes.

When the late breakfast came the tension was so thick one could taste it even in the food. The temperature seemed to have dropped to freezing point between the rurouni and the shinobi, and the air sparked with electricity whenever their eyes met. And it was not in the romantic way.

The other participants of dinner found it difficult to eat. Kaoru would have snapped long ago at the two, but the intense battle auras were sign enough to keep quiet. Yahiko and Sanosuke kept chewing their food, ignoring all the other. Or at least they tried to. The small beads of sweat tickling down the sides of their faces gave them away.

When one of the doors opened, causing a momentary distraction, all tree breathed a sigh of relief. Five heads turned to look at the unexpected saviour. It was Hiei standing in the doorway. He was still wearing his hakama from before, with his right shoulder covered with band aid and his arm in a sling.

"Hiei-dono!" Kenshin exclaimed.

"You should be resting," Touya said. Hiei glared at them.

"I'm well enough to walk," the ex-demon shot back. "Besides, who could rest with your combined fighting aura filling the house?" Hiei smirked and the two men in question had the grace to look embarrassed.

"Ah- are you hungry?" Kaoru asked, motioning towards the food. Hiei took a few steps into the room, clearing favouring his right side, and frowned. "Who made it?"

"We ordered take out from Akabeko," Sanosuke answered. Satisfied that he wouldn't get food poisoning on top of a shoulder injury, Hiei sat down accepted what was being offered to him. Kenshin's eyes lingered on the few scars that were exposed on Hiei's chest. He allowed himself a few seconds to wonder before tearing his eyes away. Hiei was a swordsman. A very young one, but one nonetheless. There was not one truly skilled swordsman who didn't have scars.

Touya on the other hand had seen it all before. The scars, the band aid, it was all part of a daily routine, one could say. Still there was something that caught the ice-master's eyes, something he'd never thought about before. The junction between Hiei's neck and shoulder. The small piece of flesh and tanned skin just slightly above the collar bone. It was a demonic instinct. One that truly startled Touya. He may have been a bit clueless at times, but the ice-master was by no means stupid. To feel a certain… excitement from the sight of a main pulse point was like a cold wake up shower. The blue-haired demon tore his eyes away from Hiei and focused on his food. And so breakfast continued in silence. Hiei did not question the others' odd behaviour. He'd find out sooner or later anyway, and besides, if there were some sort of dangerous situation Touya would without doubt warn him.

Once everyone finished, Kaoru ordered Kenshin to find Hiei and Touya another pair of hakama and gi to wear since the ones from yesterday had patches of dirt and blood on them. The tension from before seemed to have been momentarily forgotten. Kenshin agreed and led the two demons out of the room. He managed to find some spare clothes that he handed to the teens.

"Leave the soiled ones on the floor," the redhead instructed. "This one does not believe the blood can be washed out anymore." Both Touya and Hiei agreed, having first hand experience of how much blood liked to stain. Kenshin left the room to give the two some privacy to change. Though he would have liked to offer to help Hiei dress since his shoulder was injured, the rurouni guessed that the black-haired boy would not have agreed.

Once the swordsman left the room Touya glanced at Hiei from the corner of his eye.

"How long do you think we'll be stuck in this era," the ice-master asked. Hiei answered with an "Hn" and a half shrug.

"Probably depends on what it was that took us here in the first place," he then added. Touya nodded thoughtfully and dressed himself in white hakama and a light purple gi. As he turned his head the shinobi noticed his fellow demon struggling to fasten his new, black hakama.

"You're not wearing a gi?" Touya asked and took the ties from Hiei's hand.

"Not with this shoulder," the fire-demon huffed and reluctantly let Touya bind his hakama in place. He noticed a slight pink tint on the ice-demon's cheeks, but figured it was embarrassment from a stupid question.

Once done helping Hiei Touya turned and walked out through the door, cheeks aflame. There was no denying it; he wanted Hiei. Touya wanted to sink his fangs in a pulse point and hear Hiei gasp and make the fire-demon his. The fire-demon though, was unlikely to feel the same.

Well, it was spring. Whether they were in Tokyo or Makai didn't matter; Touya could still fight for Hiei's affection. In theory, all he needed to do was eliminate possible rivals and prove himself worthy. And that was exactly what the ice-master planned to do.

Kenshin stood waiting outside, leaning against a wall until he saw Hiei walking down the hall.

"Hiei-dono..!" the rurouni called, making the black-haired teen stop. Kenshin walked up to him and bowed slightly. "This one wished to thank you for saving this one's life. And to apologise for the trouble Hiei-dono has gone through because of this one." Hiei snorted, making Kenshin look at him in surprise.

"Just forget about it, rurouni. It's not that important. It was my own choice to follow you to the mansion and to jump in front of the gatling gun." Hiei stared intently at the redhead, and for some reason Kenshin felt guilt gnaw at the pit of his stomach.

"Nonetheless," he said. "This one is very grateful." Hiei was silent for a while. Then he smirked.

"You're welcome," the black-haired one stated and walked away. As Kenshin watched the teen leave a warm feeling spread through his chest, coaxing an unconscious smile from the redhead.

_**TBC…**_

_**It's an update, can you believe it? Um… I hope I still have any readers left. **_

_**Touya has figured it all out, being demon and all. Kenshin on the other hand isn't quite as quick to realize things.**_


	13. Ch 13

_**Ahem… I know that this isn't really all that good, but think of it as a sort of interlude or something. I wrote it partly to get a new chapter posted, partly to **__**redirect myself into what I was doing before my overly long hiatus.**_

_**Ch. 13**_

Hiei wondered what annoyed him the most; Kaoru's cooking, the tension between Kenshin and Touya, or that he couldn't vent his frustration through training. In fact, wielding a sword seemed impossible with the slowly healing shoulder. Therefore, more often than he would like to admit, the demon found himself wandering the streets of Tokyo, hoping for a moment's peace from Kenshin's endless worrying and Touya's… hell, Hiei didn't even know why Touya's presence bothered him so much. It was just… some odd wibe, as Yusuke would say. A tickle at Hiei's spine, telling him something had changed. The fire-demon, however, placed the blame on everything that had happened lately and shrugged it off. Touya would be back to normal, given time.

Mind somewhat at peace, Hiei sat down on the grassy banks by the river just outside of the town. Red eyes closed as the demon began to focus on nonexistent powers, hoping to, by some miracle, reawaken them.

Back at the dojo, Touya coldly calculated the possible threats around him. He didn't so much mind the female as he was fairly certain she could and would not catch Hiei's interest. The whelp was no worry either. The tall young male that often visited had Touya on edge, yet that was only his instincts. The ice-master's rational side told him that the youngling wasn't a danger to him and eventually even his instincts calmed at the knowledge that, if needed, he was very much capable of defeating this one.

All this thinking left only one obstacle. The rurouni. Ice-blue eyes narrowed at the thought of the human. Touya's demonic nature seemed undecided on whether it was worse to be stuck on the other male's territory, or having the alpha of said territory show interest in the fire-demon he was pursuing. Normally, the ice-master would challenge the rurouni to a fight and upon winning claim both the prize and the territory.

However, this was not the Makai and Himura was not a demon. And this frustrated Touya. How was he supposed to show himself worthy? A low growl escaped the demon where he sat under "Hiei's" three.

"Something bothering you," an all too familiar voice asked. Touya fought down an urge to jump and grab his weapon. Instead, he took a few deep, calming breaths to bring his spring-crazed instincts under control. Gradually, the demon lifted his head to face Himura.

"I was simply thinking," Touya answered vaguely. The redhead before him slowly nodded. For a while they simply stared at each other, and hidden under the silent surface, Touya bore hostility while Kenshin bore a warning. Then, almost reluctantly, the ex-hitokiri continued walking towards the well.

Had Touya not been a master in controlling his reactions he would have snorted. Even by the demon's standards the tension was getting ridiculous.

Kenshin felt, perhaps, just a little bit guilty for the trouble he and the blue-haired teen were causing. Not that there had been an actual fight yet, but that seemed to be just a matter of time. Although, the redhead did find himself considering the benefits of a spar with the other. Maybe a good match, even at the risk of it turning slightly violent, would do them some good.

Now, the swordsman had had some time to think. No one would have been more surprised than Kenshin was when he realized how uncomfortable he felt when considering the relationship between Hiei and Touya. Not that he thought it to be very deep. Hiei was not the type to let anyone close too easily. Nonetheless Kenshin felt as though Touya knew something of great importance that the rurouni could only guess at.

Filling a bucket with water from the well, the swordsman suddenly had to pause.

'I don't want Touya to know Hiei-dono better than I,' he realized. The lack of honorific in Touya's name, even when only thought, and the selfishness of it all startled him. But he felt it was the truth. Troubled, the rurouni closed his eyes.

He wanted to be the one reaching through Hiei's walls. He wanted to be the one the mysterious youth could depend on. Kenshin opened his eyes again with a sickening feeling. Somehow he was sure Touya had realized the rurouni's feelings long before he himself. The blue-eyed teen must have taken it as a challenge.

Something nearly forgotten, or maybe just well hidden, from the past reared its head inside Kenshin and the shoulders of the man known as Battôsai stiffened with determination.

He would be the one. Not Touya.

A shiver woke Hiei from his meditation. Maybe it was some foresight, or a small thread left behind by the jagan eye, but the fire-demon suddenly felt that some irreversible change had just occurred. Hiei looked up at the cloud-free sky and began to wonder how much the future would alter.

_**TBC…**_


End file.
